Duster for plants



Feb. 17, 1931. Hj E. BRANDT DUSTER FOR PLANTS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed March 26, 1928 Feb. 17, 1931. I E, BRANDT 1,792,804

DUSTER FOR PLANTS Filed March 2 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Feb. 17, 1931 UNITED STATES PATENT-f oral-cs HENRY E. BRANDT, OI Sfl. PAUL, MINNESOTA, ASSIGNQREO THEDOBBINS MANIUFAC TUBING COMPANY, OI NORTH ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA, A CQIt-POBATIOROFSOUTI;

DAKOTA DUSTER FOR PLANTS Application filed March 26, 1928. Serial No, 264,664,

This invention relates to a dusting apparatus, and whilethe invention may be used to spray dust for any desiredpurpose, it particularly is designed for use in spraying li'insecticidesin the formof dust.

It is an object of this invention to provide a simple and efficient, apparatus for applying dust'to various objects, and one which has a simple means for regulating thevolume of the dust discharged.

It is another object of the invention to provide dusting apparatus of simple construction having a container in which the dust. is placed, andin which an air pressure is created to force the dust through one or more openings in the discharge. pipe, together with means for regulating the amount of the air passing into said discharge pipe to regulate the volume of dust discharged.

It is still; another object of the invention to provide asimple and efficient dusting apparatus having a discharge. conduit comprising relatively movable curved sections, whereby the conduit may be converted into various shapes for effectively spraying the dust on different portions of the objects, such as plants.

These and other objects and advantages of the invention will be fully set forth in the following description made .in connection with theaccompanying drawings, in which like reference characters refer to similar parts throughoutthe several views and in which Fig. 1 is a central longitudinal section through the device;

Fig. 2; is a top plan view of a portion of the device, certain parts being broken away and others shown in vertical section;

Fig. 3 is avertical section taken on line 33 of Fig. 1; I

Fig. 4 is a horizontal section through a portion of the discharge conduit;

Fig. 5 is a view, in side elevation of a section of the discharge conduit, a portion being broken away and other portions shown in vertical section;

Fig. 6 is a section taken on line o6 of Fig. 7 is a view inside elevation of a charge nozzle;

Fig. 8 is a view in front elevation of said nozzle;

Fig. 9 is a vertical section through said drical. Saidcontainer has closed" ends, one

of which is provided with a filling spout 2Qa arranged to be closed; by a threadedcap 21.

A cylindrical casing 22 projects from one of the cylinder, with its axis atright angles to the axis-of said cylinder and slightly above the axis of; the cylinder, said cylinder 22 forming a pump cylinder. The cylinder 221is se cured. to container 20 and; projects thereint'o for a short distance as shown inFig. 1-. The cylinder 22has an outer-end'closed save for a plurality of holes 22a therethrough. A plunger rod 2.3 moves centrally through the end of cylinder 22 and in said cylinder and has a plunger 24 secured to its'inner end, said plunger comprising oppositely disposed slightly cup shaped disks 24a and 24b, axially of which rod 23 passes, washers 25 being disposed at the opposite sides of said disks and being held thereagainstby the nuts 27 engaging the same. The disk 24a is imperforate, While disk 24?? has a plurality of holes 240 therethrough. A ring 28, preferably made of-some flexible material such as light rubber, is disposed between the disks 24a and 24?) and is of a diameter to snugly fit the interior of the pump cylinder 22. A handle 26 is secured to the outer end of the plunger rod 23. A diaphragm 29 is secured in the cylinder adjacent its inner end, having an aperture 29a therethrough, normally closed by a valve comprising a circular pad 30 carried at one end of the spring or resilient arm 31 which is secured adjacent one side of the diaphragm 29. A spout or conduit 82 is connected to the inner end 22?; of the cylinder 22 and communicates with said cylinder through an oblong opening 220. A portion of the end 22?) is also pressed outwardly as shown at 2261 to form an opening 220 from cylinder 22 into the container 20, which opening is directed downwardly in said container. The portion of the cylinder 22 between diaphragm 30 and end 226 might be called an air pressure chamber. A fiat strip or bar 33 is provided, extending transversely through conduit 32 adjacent end 226, said strip having an oblong opening 331: therethrough, substantially the same size and shape as the opening 220. The strip 33 extends through the end of container 20 and has its outer end bent into substantially the shape of a hook to form a handle 33?). The strip 33 is suitably packed at the end of container 20 by the packing 34;. The strip 33 adjacent its inner end is also provided with an elongated slot 330 into which projects a tongue 22; struck up from the end 22?), said tongue forming a stop for the bar 33. The conduit 32 is provided with a plurality of openings 32a in the portion thereof extending through container 20 and as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, said conduit projects at the front side of the container 20 where it is slightly tapered in form. The container 20 is provided with the handle 35 at its top side adjacent cylinder 22.

A discharge member 36 is provided comprising a plurality of separable curved sections 36a and a connecting member 36?). The device is also provided with discharge nozzles 37. The nozzles 37 as shown in Figs. 7 and 8 are substantially semi-spherical in form having a flange 37a extending therearound at one side, in which is secured an annular member 376 having a cylindrical portion adapted to fit over the slightly tapered end 360 of one of the sections 36a, said sections each having one end 360 tapered as shown in Fig. 5. A slot 370 extends part way around the member 37 adjacent flange 37a forming the discharge opening for said nozzle. The nozzle 36 comprises the forked member 365, the central branch of which is adapted to be fitted onto the tapered end of one of the sections 36a. and the forked ends of which are tapered and adapted to fit into the cylindrical end of one of the sections 36a. The nozzles 37 can also be disposed on the tapered end of member 36?).

In operation, the dust to be sprayed will be placed in the container as indicated in Fig. 1. The operator will now dispose the discharge conduits and nozzle as desired for the particular work in hand and will hold the handle 35 with one hand and operate the handle 26 with the other hand, as shown in Figs. 10 to 13. lVhen the handle 26 and rod 23 are drawn outwardly in cylinder 22, the ring 28 is engaged by the front disk 2% and moved outwardly in the cylinder, the same moving in frictional engagement with the walls of the cylinder. The air can pass around the outer side of the disk 24a between the same and ring 28 and through the holes 240. The cylinder is thus not closed and there is no suction produced at the front end thereof as the plunger moves outwardly. hen the handle 26 and plunger rod 23 are pushed inwardly, the ring 28 is engaged by the disk 24a and pushed inwardly. The opening across the cylinder is thus sealed by the disk 24a and the ring 28 and the air is pushed inwardly and compressed, the same pushing open the valve 30 and passing to the inner side of partition 29. The air then passes through opening 226 into the container 20 so that an air pressure is created in said 0011- tainer. The air discharged into container 20 blowing down on the dust 40, a itates the same, so that the dust in the container is churned up and mixed with the air. The air passes out of the container 20 through the holes 3264 through the spout or conduit and carries the dust therewith. The dust is thus discharged in divided condition and thoroughly mixed with the air. When the air is discharged to the front side of partition 29, it will pass through the openings 22c and 33a if the same are in alinement or partially in alinement. If the strip 33 is moved so that the openings are in alinement, there will be a direct opening into the end of conduit 32 of the size of openings 22c and 33a. With this arrangement most of the air will pass directly into spout 32 and there will be a minimum of air discharged into container 20 to pass through the holes 22a. In fact, the air being discharged into the tube 32 will tend to prevent the entrance of air through said holes. There will thus be little dust sprayed out through tube or spout 32. The strip 33 can be moved to more or less cover the opening 320 and as less of said opening is exposed, more dust will be discharged through the member 32 and from the device. When the opening 220 is entirely closed by the strip 33, the device will have its maximum discharge.

TVith the discharge conduits 36 and nozzles 37 the dust can be directed in a great many different ways. It is desirable, in order to reach many insects which infest the lower side of leaves of plants, to spray the dust upwardly. This can be done by arranging the conduit and nozzles as shown in Fig. 12. It will be seen that the nozzles 37 can be rotated to direct the opening 370 in any direction. Vfith the sections disposed as shown in Fig. 12, the dust will be directed through the end sections and one nozzle will direct the same downwardly on the plant while the other will direct the same upwardly so as to reach the under side of the leaves. The plant is thus effectively dusted both on the tops of the leaves and the bottoms of the leaves.

It is often desirable to spray the plant from either side and the operator can move along a row of plants and spray the plants Cir from both sides. When this is done, thenoz-' zles and sections will be arranged as shown in Fig. 11.

At other times it may be desired to spray merely the tops of the plants, as when small plants are being treated. The nozzles could then be placed directly on the fork member 366 as shown in Fig. 10 and a shower of the dust will be discharged from each nozzle downwardly onto the plants.

It is also possible to use only one discharge conduit, at which time the member 365 is not used. This arrangement is shown in Fig. 13. It will be seen that conduits 36a can be arranged so that the sprayer can spray a tree or vine overhead. It is obvious that the sprayer can be directed upwardly with the other arrangements of the sections described.

The sections 36a are as shown, rotatable on each other and on spout 32 as well as on forked member 366. The member 36?) is also rotatable on sections 366 or on spout 32. The members 36a, 36b and nozzle 37 are held in place by friction.

From this description it will be seen that the sections 36a and nozzles 37 can be arranged in a great variety of ways to most efiectively treat the particular object or plant being sprayed. The container 20 can be turned into various positions and the dust will not pass into opening 226 in any quantity, as said opening is protected by the struck up portion of end member 22?).

From the above description it will be seen that applicant has provided quite a simple and efficient dusting apparatus and one in which the volume of dust discharged may be nicely regulated, and one having a great capacity for dusting the desired part of the plant. The device is quite simple in construction and can be easily and inexpensively made and assembled.

It will, of course, be understood that various changes may be made in the form, details, arrangement and proportions of the parts, without departing from the scope of applicants invention, which, generally stated, consists in a device capable of carrying out the objects above set forth, in the novel parts and combinations of parts disclosed and defined in the appended claims.

What is claimed is 1. A dusting apparatus having in combination, a container for the dust, a discharge conduit through which the dust passes from said container, having one or more openings communicating with said container, means for forcing air into said container, and means for directing more or less air directly into said conduit to regulate the volume of dust discharged.

2. A dusting apparatus having in combination, a container for the dust, a discharge conduit through which the dust passes from said container having one or more openings communicating with said container through which air and dust pass into said conduit, a chamber in which air is forced under pressure communicating with said container, said conduit having an opening into said chamber, and means for regulating the size of said latter opening whereby more or less air passes directly through said conduit.

3. A dusting apparatus having in combination, a container for the dust, a discharge conduit throughwhich the dust passes from said container, an air chamber into which air is forced under pressure having an opening into said container, said conduit passing through said container and having an opening communicating with said chamber, said conduit being perforated in the portion passing through said container, and means for varying the size of said opening from said chamber into said conduit, to vary the amount of dust discharged.

4. A dusting apparatus having in combination, a container for the dust, a discharge conduit extending through said container having perforations in the portion disposed in said container through which dust passes thereinto, a pump cylinder extending from said container, an air chamber at the end of said pump cylinder adjacent said container and having an opening into said container, said conduit extending to said air chamber and having an opening at its end communicating with said air chamber, and a valve for regulating the size of said last mentioned opening to vary the amount of dust discharged.

5. A dusting apparatus having in combination, a container for the dust, a discharge conduit extending from said container and passing thereinto having perforations in the portion disposed in said container through which air and dust pass into said conduit, a pump cylinder carried by said container extending at the opposite side of said container, the axes of said conduit and pump cylinder being substantially parallel, said pump cylinder extending into said container and having an air chamber in its inner end into which air is forced, said chamber having an opening into said container, said conduit extending to said air chamber and having an opening at its end into said chamber, and a laterally slidable member extending over said opening and having a similar opening therein whereby the openings in said conduit and in said slidable member may be brought more or less into alinement.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

HENRY E. BRANDT. 

